This invention relates to a surgical blade remover, for safely removing used surgical blades from various surgical instrument handles. This invention also relates to a disposable container for safely disposing of contaminated surgical blades and sharps.
Typical surgical knives or scalpels comprise a disposable blade which can be removably attached to a handle portion. During and after surgical procedures, the used blade portion is removed from the handle and disposed of. The handle portion may then be cleaned and sterilized and used again in a subsequent surgical procedure, by attaching a new blade.
In order to minimize injury to medical personnel handling and using these types of sharp surgical instruments, as well as to the patient undergoing the surgery, several important safety needs must be met. For example, the medical personnel must be able to safely and easily remove the blades from the handle without injuring themselves in the process. Additionally, the medical personnel must be able to accurately account for all blades that are used and removed during surgery, in order to insure that no contaminated blades remain in the patient or in the operating room. Further, the medical personnel must be able to safely dispose of used blades so that the blades cannot accidentally cause injury to others.
A typical surgical blade contains a tapered slot on the lower portion of the blade which engages a raised portion on the side of the handle to securely attach the blade to the handle. The wider portion of the blade slot is disposed near the rearward edge of the blade, and the narrower portion of the slot is disposed near the forward edge of the blade, with the forward edge of the blade being the cutting edge. On the handle, the raised portion has a rounded front and rear with a groove on both sides. To attach the blade to the handle, the slot is aligned with the forward end of the raised portion of the handle, so that the slot engages the groove on the raised portion of the handle. The blade is slid down the raised portion of the handle until the rearward (wider) end of the slot is aligned with the rearward end of the raised portion. Because of the taper in the blade slot, as the blade is slid along the raised portion of the handle, it is frictionally secured in the groove. The rearward end of the blade is then pressed down against the handle until it engages the rearward portion of the raised portion and the blade is flush with the handle. This positioning of the rearward end of the blade against the raised portion prevents the blade from being slid in the opposite direction and thereby becoming disengaged from the handle. When the blade is in position on the handle, the edges of the blade, including the sharpened cutting edge, project beyond the contours of the handle.
To remove the blade from the handle, medical personnel typically would disengage the rear portion of the slot of the blade from the rearward end of the raised portion by lifting it away from the handle using a hemostat or similar tool, and then slide the blade in the opposite direction along the raised portion. However, in order to disengage the rear portion of the handle from the raised portion to permit this sliding, the blade would have to be bent within its elastic limits. This bending involves a high degree of danger, since as soon as the blade slot disengaged from the groove of the raised portion, the elastic force created in the blade tends to cause the blade to snap away from and be propelled from the handle. This can cause injury or result in the blade being temporarily lost in the operating room.
Accordingly, the need has arisen for a safe and convenient means for removing surgical blades from the handles which minimizes the risk of injury during removal.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,318,473 to Sandel, incorporated herein by reference, discloses a surgical blade removal and disposal device in which a blade and handle are inserted through a guide so that the rear of the blade is in contact with two shoulders, and the forward end of the blade is under an abutment. To remove the blade from the handle, the handle is urged downward against the shoulders, which bows the blade, thereby disengaging the rear end of the blade from the rear face of the raised portion of the handle. The handle is then pulled from the guide means while a wall and stop restrain the blade, thereby disengaging the blade from the handle.
While this known surgical blade removal device achieves safe removal of blades from knives and other surgical instruments, the prying or levering motion of the handle required on the part of medical personnel to operate it limits its flexibility.